Photo courtesy of WCBS-TVNicholas Cascone, who lives in Greenridge, is accused of pocketing nearly all the money raised by his charity, Feed the Hungry Inc., which purports to sell donated cars and use the money to benefit needy families, state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo announced yesterday.

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Where did all the money Nicholas Cascone collected for the needy go?

He pleads the Fifth.

Cascone, who lives on Chatham Street in Greenridge, is accused of pocketing nearly all the money raised by his charity, Feed the Hungry Inc., which purports to sell donated cars and use the money to benefit needy families, state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo announced yesterday at a press conference in Manhattan.

And when asked more than 150 questions about his charity during a deposition — including requests for basic information like the phone numbers it used to do business, how many cars it collected and whether it furnished donors with receipts — Cascone repeatedly invoked his Fifth Amendment right to refuse to testify, Cuomo’s office said.

The attorney general filed suit yesterday to shut down Feed the Hungry, freeze its assets and prevent Cascone from ever again serving as an officer or director of a not-for-profit.

16 OTHER CHARITIES

Nor is Cascone alone: The attorney general has issued subpoenas to 16 other car-donation charities statewide.

Of the more than $430,000 deposited into Feed the Hungry’s bank accounts between 2002 and 2009, the company donated less than $7,850, roughly 1.8 percent, to legitimate charities, Cuomo alleged.

Cascone wouldn’t answer questions about funds from the charity being used to pay off his wife’s American Express Card, nor would he respond to whether he had any financial interest in the towing companies he used to pick up donated cars, or why the charity was paying the electricity bill for one of the companies, Two Carrier’s Towing Inc.

“Nicholas Cascone and his Feed the Hungry organization promised to use donated vehicles to help the homeless but only ended up taking generous New Yorkers for a ride,” said Cuomo, the Democratic candidate for governor.

The charity’s now-defunct website boasted of funding hundreds of thousands of meals served at the New York City Rescue Mission, more than 270,000 in 2004 and 2005, and 83,262 in 2008, the lawsuit alleges.

“FTH donated slightly more than $2,000 to Rescue Mission in 2004 and nothing at all in 2005,” the lawsuit alleges. “Again, FTH’s donations were insufficient to support the preparation of 270,000 meals.”

The lawsuit seeks return of the money Cascone is accused of pocketing; once Feed the Hungry is dissolved, those funds would be distributed to a legitimate charitable organization.

No one answered the door at Cascone’s home yesterday, and his lawyer did not return a message seeking comment.

The other car charities issued subpoenas include Bless the Kids Inc.; Breast Cancer Society; Cars That Help Inc.; Louis Cardillo; Children in Crises; Children’s Cancer Fund of America; Children’s Literacy Fund; Arthur Glass; Heritage for the Blind; Hope for the Disabled Kids Inc.; J.O.Y. for Our Youth Inc., which does business as Kars 4 Kids; Lechaim for Life; Neo Presearch Energy Foundation Inc.; Tree of Life, and We Buy Cars Inc.

Some of those outfits advertise relentlessly on the radio.

“We remain concerned that similar practices may prevail in other organizations and will diligently work to root out any other sham charities,” Cuomo said. “As we continue working to clean up this industry, we encourage generous New Yorkers to stay informed and to keep donating to worthy charities.”